


And then there was light.

by AFailedButterfly



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rip Hunter Lives, Rip Hunter-centric, Rip Week 2019, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 20:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19410676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFailedButterfly/pseuds/AFailedButterfly
Summary: Rip's little adventure with the time drive doesn't kill him but instead spits him out in the best of places; home





	And then there was light.

The last thing Rip sees before he is plunged into darkness is the blinding light of the time drive; it fills his vision and makes some tears form in his eyes. Then it's gone, and Rip expects that there will be searing pain and then nothing, but that it's not what happens. Instead, Rip finds himself floating through a never-ending whirlpool of darkness that kind of looks like molasses when Rip stares at it long enough, which he does because there isn't much more he can do as he drifts aimlessly and rather slowly to an uncertain goal. Is this really what death is like, Rip can't help but wonder. He always thought that when he died, there would be nothing, but he could still form conscious thoughts and feel the exhaustion he had been living with the last few months. Maybe Rip hasn't that and is stuck in limbo, somewhere between life and death. That would be his luck, wouldn't it? Rip tries to groan in frustration but finds it difficult to make any sounds, so it merely comes out sounding like a grunt. Maybe he is dead after all? Rip closes his eyes; he feels exhausted. When was the last time he had a proper nights sleep? He deserves to rest for a bit, doesn't he? After all, he is stuck in a neverending sea of blackness, and there is no catastrophe he has to stop. Yes, Rip can sleep, for a little while. 

...

..

.

Rip doesn't know how long he has slept when he feels something soft underneath him. That's a new and welcome feeling; he hadn't slept in a proper bed in a long time. He is vaguely aware of a voice speaking to him from far away, but he doesn't have the energy to concentrate on it. Why would he when he is finally allowed to rest in something soft and warm. No. Rip can sleep for a bit longer; it's too much effort to wake up anyways. So he mutes the sounds and let himself slip back into the familiar dark void. 

...

..

.

Rip is not sure how much time passes in the black limbo, it feels like years, but it could be seconds, time works differently for those who travel through it. The one thing he is sure of is the feeling of somebody gently stroking his hair. It should be annoying to him, but it all feels very soothing and comforting. Rip tries to open his eyes for the first time in a long time but instantly regrets it as a white light blinds him. Could he still be on the field with Mallus and holding the time drive? Surely that can't be possible? Rip blinks a few times, and his eyes slowly but surely get used to the light. He isn't in the field at all. Instead, he seems to be in a room with tall a ceiling, blue walls, and wooden furniture. Is this what death is like? It's not bad, after all.

"Micheal?" Rip freezes; he would recognize that voice anywhere. He turns quickly towards the voice and is hit with a wave of pain so intense that he has to squeeze his eyes shut until it gently fades away. When he reopens his eyes, he says Mary Xavier is sitting on a chair next to his bed with a gentle smile on her face as she strokes his hair. Well, that's one thing explained, now there is merely a dozen more.

"Mother?" he whispers in a raspy voice; his throat feels as dry as quicksand. Mary quickly grabs a cup of water with a straw from a nightstand and Rip greedily drinks every single drop. His throat doesn't feel wholly restored, but it's an improvement.

"Am I dead?" he manages to ask

"No. No your not, despite your best efforts". His mother gives him a hard stare, which makes him feel like a child again. 

"How?"

"The time drive spat you out again, dude!" Rip's eyes widen in shock at the sound of the second recognizable voice. It can't possibly be who he thinks it is? But when Rip turns again, more slowly this time Wally West's grinning face meets him. He looks a bit older than he did last time Rip saw him but otherwise, he hasn't changed much.   
  
"It's good to see you Rip; it's been a while." Rip feels confused and overwhelmed. He should be dead by all logic. He was lucky enough to survive his first contact with the time drive, so the chances of him surviving the second time had been close to none. So how had he ended up here? With his memories intact no less. It was damn close to miraculous. 

"Captain?" Rip blinked, and his jaw dropped. He recognized the women standing in the doorway immediately, but it shouldn't be possible that she was here.  
  
"Gideon?" he whispered in disbelief.

"I am here, captain."  
  
"You always are."

...

..

.

Wally, Mary, and Gideon slowly bring Rip up to speed during the following days. Rip can't handle too much information at once and often falls asleep but as he grows stronger the longer he can listen to their tales. Gideon had been checking the timeline for him in case he would survive like last time, and after three years he had been as Wally had put it "spat out" in the old west. During these three years, Zari had helped Gideon figure out how to become a human permanently, and Wally had left the legends to finally establish himself as a superhero in Chicago of all places and was thriving when he didn't have Barry's shadow to live beneath. Rip could hardly believe that he had been gone for three years, nor how he survived and nobody else seemed to know that, not even Gideon. It was still a strange sensation to see Gideon as a human, and not just a manifestation like in his dreams but an actual human. Rip had always considered her to be a person but being able to touch her, or more accurately desperately gripping her arm, so he didn't fall on his face since his balance was off, was very different. Rip's life the following weeks were strange; he lived in his mother's house in the outskirts of London, she and his best friend were watching her as hawks to make sure he didn't rush through his rehabilitation. Wally would show up as often as he could, and Rip found that he much enjoyed his company. One day Rip asked him why Wally kept him company he shrugged and said   
  
"You helped me when I was in a low spot. I figured it was time to return the favor." Rip felt so touched by the statement that he got tears in his eyes, Wally was kind enough to look away. 

...

..

.

When Rip was finally deemed to be able to function on his own, he realized that he didn't know what he would do now. His life had been tied to protecting the timeline and obsessing over new threats, but he found that he didn't have the strong pull to return to that life. His dear legends and what was left of the Time Bureau were doing a good enough job with protecting the timeline and his run-in with the time drive had made him rather tired of time traveling. But going back to being Michael Carter and working nine to five job in an office didn't appeal to him either, and the last thing he wanted was to live out the rest of his life on his mother's couch doing nothing. It was his dear Gideon that came to his rescue as she often did.

"You could become a private detective," she said with a gentle smile as she put her hand over his, a gesture that made a familiar jolt run through his body. He hadn't felt it since Miranda had died, but Rip found that he didn't mind so much. There was still guilt left in him, and he would have to devote some more time to fully process that he would never get his wife and son back before he was ready to move forward with somebody else. But he knew that Gideon understood that, and for the first time in his long life, he had time to figure things out. 

"Yes I could," he said, "One day." Those two words had a double meaning. _One day I will ask you out,_ and Gideon being the genius that she was understood what he was meaning.

"One day", she agreed 


End file.
